-36- 



succession of point-to-points and won't always be 

 on his toes ready for a start. 



I think I have said enough to shew that the 

 making of four-year-olds can be a very entertain- 

 ing amusement for a young man with good nerves who 

 can ride a bit. If he has to hunt 'on the cheap', 

 he will see more sport on one or two screws than on 

 one or two four-year-olds; but the latter, once 

 made, if the right material has been bought, be- 

 come valuable and high-class hunters. The screw, 

 on the other hand, becomes more screwy and worth- 

 less year by year. Most men who make hunters find 

 that the ones they have made to their own hands are 

 far more perfect conveyances than any hunter they 

 buy. 



Another thing that a lad with limited means and 

 a very small stud should bear in mind is this: if 

 you make one or two four-year-olds well for yourself, 

 you will soon have people in your hunt asking you 

 to ride their four-year-olds or other troublesome 

 horses for them. This greatly helps out a small 

 stud, and enables you to get out hunting when a 

 run of bad stable luck may otherwise keep you kick- 

 ing your heels at home. It is a good rule never to 

 refuse any mount offered to you, no matter how bad 

 its reputation. It all gives you experience, and 

 very soon you should develop an instinct for the 

 really dangerous ones. If you find yourself on 

 one that simply cannot be kept on his legs, you 

 can play light and go gently on him for a few days 

 (there are certain fences over which no horse can 

 fall; confine yourself to them), and then return 

 the horse with thanks. Even such a one will have 

 taught you something. The horses to dread, young 

 or old, are the ones that cannot ' put in a short 

 one', who cannot get their stride right for the fence. 

 Such horses are always dangerous,, no matter how 

 slowly or carefully you ride them at fences. They 

 will jump half a dozen well and then get their stride 

 wrong, often at strong timber, and give you a heavy 

 fall. Fortunately this class of horse is not often 

 met with, but in extreme cases no amount of school- 

 ing or falling seems to cure them. 



